difficult up until somewhere around last year, last fall when we started taking back areas from the taliban that mattered enormously to them. >> reporter: he warns that gains here are fragile, but ever the good soldier he says he supports president obama's plan to withdraw thousands of americans in the coming months. >> the commander in chief has made a decision, and we fully support that decision. we'll do everything we possibly can to implement it successfully. that's our job, and that's indeed what we will do. >> it was great just to have him show that, you know, he's still committed to what we're doing here even though we all know he's fixing to leave us. >> reporter: a popular, politically savvy, four-star general leaving afghanistan for washington, trading one tough job for another. nbc news, kabul. >>> the royal newlyweds william and kate head for california later this week. but first, they have a few more stops in canada. today it was prince edward island where the crowds went wild for the royal couple as they rode down historic great george street escorted by the royal canadian mou